Zapatero great loser in elections the 22nd
Prime Minister and General Secretary of socialist party PSOE, Rodriguez Zapatero, will be the big looser in the local and regional elections taking place on 22nd May. His incompetent, erratic and unsocial policy has eroded confidence in his party. His recent promise not to stand as a candidate will have been too late to save his party from a resounding defeat on 22nd. The lost PSOE votes, for lack of a realistic alternative, will go to the corrupt PP, the party of speculators, promoters and bankers.
Alicante will again be the province with the most foreign voters. Lliber and San Fulgencio have a majority of foreign voters; another 6 municipalities have more than 40%.
In a limited number of coastal municipalities there will be independent lists, some with foreign candidates. If you have a right of vote, exercise it and go for them, but expect no miracles.
The blind supporting the lame
Spain will contribute 3,247 million euros to the 78 billion rescue package for Portugal. With their guarantees for Greece and Ireland Spain will be guarantor for 83
billion. The EU will pay 52 billion of the total for Portugal and the IMF 26 (if its director can find time from chasing young employees in the bedroom of his 3,000 euros per day suite in a luxury hotel in New York)…
Who will pay at the end of the day? The taxpayers of Europe.
Last bond issue, lower interest rate
Spain managed to place a bond issue of 4,272 million euros over 12 and 18 months at an interest rate marginally lower than the previous issue. The “country risk” fell from 218 to 213 points
In its latest report, the International Monetary Fund, predicted economic growth in Spain next year will be 0.8%, half of the average for the Euro Zone.
Gibraltar, hidden oil leak
A gigantic refueling station for ships in Gibraltar is continuously leaking enormous quantities of oil into the Mediterranean. Serious health problems for residents have been detected, but still the authorities keep the sales going.
Public administration destroys small companies
The National Federation of Independent Businesses (ATA) estimates 200,000 independent businesses have been forced to close since the beginning of the crisis in 2008, as the result of non-payment by local and regional public administrations; their debts presently stands at 12,000 million euros.
Cement consumption down…..
- Cement sales fell 17.5% in April, to 1.8 million tons; the lowest for 22 years. Between January and April it declined 6.9% to 6.9 million tons. However, cement production fell only 1% during the same period, to 7.6 million. Is someone storing cement? Maybe it's 'Roadshow' Minister Blanco?
…..as well as services…..
The service sector receded 0.8% in March compared with same month last year. 0.4% less employees were taken on. Car and motorbike sales and repairs fell 11.6%, retail sales were down 3.3 and catering 1.4%.
…..and new dwellings finished
During the two first months of this year 27,875 dwellings, 35% less than the same time last year, were completed. That is the good news of the week
Earthquakes in Spain
By Per Svensson
Spain is in a region of significant seismic movement.
There are on average 2,500 earthquakes a year in Spain, but whilst they are registered by the seismological stations most are too weak to notice. Only when the intensity is more than 4 on the Richter scale is there risk of damage; inside houses, cups and glasses moving; outside, roof tiles or sections of walls falling into the street.
The Lisbon earthquake
The most severe earthquake on the Iberian peninsula, its epicenter was in Lisbon, occurred in 1755. The quake, 8.7 caused serious damage in Portugal and Spain. 85% of buildings in Seville were affected, two children were killed in Madrid when part of a facade collapsed and thousands of people along the coast of Cadiz Province were killed by a 10 metre "tsunami-wave."
In 1884 an earthquake in Arenas del Rey in the Granada Province, killed 800.
On 2nd February 1999 a 4.8 quake in Mula (Murcia) caused serious damage. In August 2003 a 4.5 quake was registered in the Mediterranean outside Valencia. The same area had another quake on 21st September 2003.
The 4.6 quake at the end of January 2005, with its epicenter in Bulla (Murcia) was felt also in the provinces of Alicante, Jaen, Granada, Albacete, Almeria, Valencia and Ciudad Real. 200 dwellings were damages, but no one was injured. The same area suffered a quake of 4.5 degrees in August 2002.
The Azores – Gibraltar fault
The African Tectonic Plate is colliding with the European-Asian Plate along a fault going from the Azores islands and passing into the Mediterranean through the Gibraltar strait. The African plate is pushing Spain 4 millimeter to the north east every year.
The European Union is financing scientific investigations of the seismic situation in this region and the possibilities of further important earthquakes.
Earthquakes and illegal dwellings
The recent earthquake in Lorca, where many people were buried under debris when houses collapsed or hit by falling masonry, should be a warning to those tempted to buy an old house in one of the many Spanish inland towns and villages without instigating a structural survey. A large area of Southern Spain is in an earthquake danger zone but even so for many generations houses have been built without the necessary and legally obligatory reinforcements. Many of these houses are often just standing because they are supported by similar buildings on two or three sides.
New houses built in the so called “illegal developments” may also be without the reinforcement needed to withstand the earthquakes which will come sooner or later. Since they are illegal, the constructors need not comply with the costly requirements for steel reinforcement.
- If you are a potential buyer never buy an illegal dwelling. If you already own one, bring in a structural surveyor to investigate the building and to get a report on what work is needed to protect you and your family.
PR firm in Facebook controversy promotes real estate for Spanish Government
It has been revealed that 'Web of Intrigue' the PR company hired by Facebook to spread anti-Google stories in the US press, is also employed by the Spanish Government to promote the sale of its real estate to UK investors.
Burson-Marsteller (BM), headquarters in the United States and with offices in 67 countries worldwide, was employed by Spain's secretary of state for housing, Beatriz Corredor, to assist with the launch of Spain's international property roadshow that kicked-off in London last week.
Since then it has emerged that BM, on behalf of Facebook, approached well-known blogger, Christopher Soghoian, urging him to investigate Google's privacy policy in exchange for getting the piece published on influential sites such as The Huffington Post and The Washington Post.
BM has terminated its contract with Facebook but continues to work on behalf of the Spanish government, as its ministers attempt to pitch the sale of the country's 700,000 unsold holiday homes to European and Russian investors in a bid to kick-start a flailing economy.
BM's PR consultants were in attendance at the first roadshow event, held in London last week, and were responsible for identifying and contacting local media and raising publicity for the event entitled: "Look. Think. Invest. The Spanish Real Estate Market in your hands."
President of BM's Spanish office Carmen Valera, said: "The way the work was done for Facebook was not at all standard operating procedure and was against our policies, and the assignment on those terms should have been
declined.
"We have explained this to our clients.
"BM started working on behalf of the secretary of state of housing to coincide with the celebration of London's event within the framework of the international information tour, to report on the current situation of the Spanish real estate market.
"BM identified the local journalists to be invited to the event and contacted them.
"It is the first project that Spain has undertaken for the Spanish government in the present year and the first time with the secretary of state for housing."
The London event received a poor reaction from UK investors who considered the value of Spanish land to be overvalued, despite the presentation revealing prices had fallen up to 50 per cent in certain coastal regions.
Charles Svoboda, a former head of Canadian Intelligence* and veteran campaigner against the unfair expropriation of land by the Spanish authorities, said: "I can't say I'm surprised. The PR firm in question also has links [interlocking officials on their respective management teams] with property-selling firms here in Spain.
"They would do better to hound the authorities to do a better and more honest, transparent job when it comes to dealing with property related problems that abound in Spain, rather than to lure more unwary buyers into the money trap that is much of Spanish real estate. "This sort of control goes with the territory, it seems. Free speech is a luxury afforded only to those who spout messages the authorities wish others or themselves to hear."
Telegraph Expat's Spanish Planning Scandal campaign is supporting the thousands of expats who have been affected by the illegal homes crisis in Spain. You can find all the latest news on the situation here.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/property/expatproperty/8512350/PR-firm-in-Faceboo
k-controversy-promotes-real-estate-for-Spanish-government.html
Charles Svoboda explains: I don't know where my status as "Former head of Canadian Intelligence" came from. True, I was DG at CSIS (Canadian Security Intelligence Service, 1991-96) after I left the diplomatic service, and
wrote public articles, commentaries, etc. in that capacity. That is clear from "googling" my name, but that's not the same thing, as this piece suggests, and it is not relevant here anyway. Otherwise, apart from the facts that there are many more than 700,000 unsold houses here, maybe almost double that number according to some reports, and that the complex "expropriation" process isn't used, rather it's an out right land and money grab, the Telegraph is performing a useful and timely service to its readers with such articles. The control I was referring to, put in its context, had to do with how the launch of the road show was rigorously stage managed in London by the PR firm and the Spanish Embassy, to minimize any chance of disruption or any other views about Spanish property being expressed.
EU leaders played poker with euro and lost, says Borrell Previous Minister of Finance in the Government of Felipe Gonzales (PSOE) has slammed the EU politician’s handling of the Euro crisis: The persistent hesitation of EU leaders to tackle crises is weakening the European Union and exacerbating integration fatigue, said Josep Borrell, president of the European University Institute, in an interview with EurActiv.
"It was the lack of political will to face the problem that turned the Greek crisis into the euro crisis. Europe played a game of poker with the market and it lost," said the Spaniard, who was president of the European Parliament from 2004 to 2007.
Borrell slammed EU leaders for failing to address the financial crisis and pretending it was an American problem. He criticised the persistent inability of politicians to promptly resolve contemporary problems before they degenerate into longer-term crises. "If we had shown solidarity and defended the common good, the Greek crisis would not have degenerated into the euro crisis," said Borrell, noting that such behaviour had brought EU integration to a halt and exacerbated fatigue with Europe. According to Borrell, if EU countries had immediately said they would guarantee Greek debt, speculation would have been avoided and there would have been no contagion in other countries, and "we would not be where we are today".
The former president of the European Parliament argues that with the introduction of the euro, national politicians have lost a little of their ability to do politics at home. "They don't want to lose even more leverage or instruments of political action [at home]," he conceded, trying to offer an explanation for their behaviour.
Now, the same is happening with the latest crisis, with migrants knocking on Europe's doors in the wake of the North African revolts and the Libyan upheaval, underlines the EUI president.
To resolve a minor migratory crisis EU leaders are ready to change Schengen, in the same way that they allowed a crisis in a small country, Greece, to provoke a wider euro crisis, Borrell said, noting that 25,000 migrants getting to Lampedusa is a tiny problem compared to the half a million Africans who have left Libya to go back to their home countries.
"We adopted a punitive attitude instead of acting in the name of our common good. And this is really worrying! We must not hide the truth. This means there is no longer a pro-European attitude," Borrell thundered.
The president of the EUI concedes that one reason for the lack of leadership and commitment on the part of EU leaders comes from populations not clamouring for more Europe.
He believes that EU citizens move out of fear, as was the case in Finland's recent elections, which saw nationalists gain considerable ground.
"It's an explosive cocktail: We age so we need openness. Openness brings us migrants, migrants threat our identity, so we want to close up again," he explained, saying such attitudes will lead to the negation of the European Union, pure and simple.
Borrell is clear: EU leaders have blatantly failed to make the case for a stronger Europe and continue to cultivate the myths of independence.
The problem here is that "if the Greeks go kaputt, then the German banks will go kaputt. We lack the pedagogical ability to explain what the benefits of Europe are and what the consequences of non-Europe would be," he claimed, making the case for coming up with new strings to pull Europe together, citing for example its role on the global stage.
The European Union must understand that it risks being left on the backbenches if it does not change its ways, such as its unanimity rule, for example.
"The world is advancing much faster than Europe and we cannot afford to work the same way as in the past," he concluded, hinting at the need for "more Europe".
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